Let's move to Banbury, Oxfordshire

'The ­centre’s all higgledy-piggledy, with alleys, decent independent shops and a hefty market on Thursdays and Saturdays.' Photograph: Sophia Evans

What's going for it? I'd never thought of Let's Move To… Banbury. Not very Guardian. Its position by the M40 and just shy of the Cotswolds means it attracts the more intrepid breed of posh commuters, the kind who find London so despicable they'd rather sit in a car for 75 minutes than face Acton. As a result, the town's acquired a middle-aged spread of executive homes and Lexuses. But, do you know, it's rather nice. I'm not sure whether the execs have ever left their Lexuses to pop into Horsefair to buy a banbury cake (like a chorley, only thinner; like an eccles, only oval), but they should. The centre's all higgledy-piggledy, with alleys, decent independent shops and a hefty market on Thursdays and Saturdays. They should chill out on a sunny evening down at the canal, too. Hell, they could even don a pair of leather trousers, buy a lute and rock out to Fairport Convention's Cropredy Convention in August. Ew, except UB40 are headlining this year. Stay in the car, chaps.

The case against No cockhorses, though a fair few fair ladies. You'll have to hunt hard to find the older, more characterful properties. Another 4,000 new homes are planned. Sadly, the doughty, independent Wrexham & Shropshire railway closed three weeks ago.

Well connected? Yes, indeedy. The M40 skirts by, making Birmingham reachable in 40 minutes and London in 75. It's whizzer for trains, too: to Oxford in 19 minutes, to Birmingham in 50-60 (two-three an hour); to Coventry in 27 (hourly); to London Marylebone in 80 (half-hourly).

Where to buy If an executive home's your bag, head for the south-western suburbs such as Poets' Corner. But don't overlook the historic centre's medieval to 18th-century homes (though they don't often come on the market) or inner Victorian suburbs: around Queen's and Bath roads to the north-west, Hightown and Newland Road to the south.